Canada’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Department has recently revised the processing times for temporary resident applications, such as study permits, work permits, and visitor visas.

The recent update on processing times highlights several trends: visitor visas remain relatively stable with some improvements, while work permits have experienced a slowdown and increased volatility.

The most significant positive change is the reduction in India’s visitor visa processing time from 99 to 83 days, although wait times for Nigeria and within-Canada applicants have slightly increased.

On the other hand, work permits (including super visa applications) have seen significant delays, with US-based super visa applications experiencing a doubling of processing times in just two weeks.

Study permits, however, have shown the most consistency, indicating a minor softening rather than a major shift in processing.

This article compares the processing times for temporary residents from January 14 to the most recent update.

Visitor Visas

The most notable improvement in processing times is for Indian applicants, who can now obtain visitor visas 16 days faster than before.

Applying from	Current processing time	Processing times as of January 14
Canada	21 days	17 days
India	83 days	99 days
Pakistan	56 days	57 days
Nigeria	40 days	36 days
United States	25 days	27 days

Service standards for visitor visas are 14 days for applications made outside of Canada, with no published standard for applications made within Canada.

Work Permits

Despite being relatively stable, work permit applicants from Pakistan and the United States have experienced significant increases in processing times.

Applying from	Current processing time	Processing times as